Hand grip for golf clubs



Feb. 16 1926. 7 1,573,612

w. c. JOHNSTON HAND GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS Filed Nov. 20. 1923 gwuentoc,

firm/Z050 6', gbhzs Z071 Patented F eb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,573,612 PATENT OFFICE.

WALDO C. JOHNSTON, 0F COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK.

HAND GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS.

Application filed November '20, 192-3. Serial No. 675,874.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, lVALDo C. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cooperstown, in the county of Otsego and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand Grips for Golf Clubs, of which the followin is a specification.

'ly invention relates to hand grips intended primarily to be applied to the shafts of golf clubs, although the invention is adapted to be used in connection with handles or shafts of tools, sporting implements, etc., wherever it is desirable that a hand grip piece, that may be securely grasped and held, shall be employed.

In using golf clubs it is all important that the striking face of the club should bear a certain angular relationship to the ballat the instant of impact, and this desirable relationship is secured by properly holding the shaft of the club in the hands of the player. In using the ordinary clubs with shafts cylindrical in cross section, the skill and judgment of the player must be depended upon to determine the proper angular position of the shaft while the stroke is being made; and this skill and judgment are acquired only after much practice'and experience. It has been proposed to provide the grip portions of the ,shafts of golf clubs with projections or eccentric parts which will indicate to the player how the club should be held, but no two-persons grasp and hold their clubs just alike, so that a club provided with a rib or projection'that would suit one player when the club is properly held, might be inconvenient and uncomfortable in the hands of another player, and cause the latter to unconsciously shift he club to bad position for playing in order plhatlit might rest more comfortably in the ant s.

My invention consists of a grip pieceadapted to be applied to the shaft of a golf club, a tool or other implement, and which, when applied, provides a surface that will prevent the shaft from slipping in the hands of the user, and which imparts to the grasped portion of the shaft an eccentric shape, but a shape that is not unpleasant to the hand. Moreover, the grip piece is angularly adjustable with reference to the shaft, permitting it to be applied thereto in one position or another to suit the idiosyncrasies of the particular person who intends to use the grip, and so that it will by its position in the hands when naturally grasped indi cate that the shaft and striking head which it may carry lie in the proper angular relationship for correct use.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention applied to the shaft of a golf club;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the club with the grip attachment applied.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line III I of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end View; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the grip piece apart from the shaft of the club.

Referring to the drawings A designates the shaft and l) the striking head or handle of a golf club, to the handle end of which is secured the ordinary leather hand grip B. C designates a separate attachment in which resides my present invention, and which serves as a hand grip that is adapted to be fitted to and be held upon the shaft A. The separable hand grip comprises a pair of long segmental shells 2, 2, united at one end by a cross piece 3, each segment being preferably of about 90. These parts are preferably made from a single piece of thin metal which is cut and stamped to give the desired shape. The two parts 2, 2, are approximately parallel with each other and spaced apart so as to adapt them to lie upon opposite sides of the shaft of the club. The radius of each segmental piece 2 is preferably alittle less than is the radius of that portion of the staff with which it engages, the result being that only the edges 6 of the segments engage with the shaft, and as the part of the shaft represented in the drawings with which the separable grip attachment engages is wrapped with leather, and is hence somewhat resilient, the edges of the segments are forced slightly into the yielding surface of the shaft as the latter 1s grasped, and this insures against the attachment turning upon the staff when 1n use.

An elastic ring of rubber 5, or some equivalent means, is employed to hold the inner or free ends of the segments 2 toward each other and against the shaft A. The edge portions of the segments 2 are cut away immediately adjacent to the cross connection 3, as indicated at 4, 4, in order to cause the attachment to fit the end of the shaft stem neatly.

When applied to the shaft of a club or tool as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, there are uncovered portions of the shaft A. between the edges 6 of the opposite segments 2, 2.

An attachment such as described, when applied to a cylindrical shaft, imparts to the hand-gripped portion thereof an eccentric shape, approximately elliptical in cross section, a shape that is pleasing to the hands and insures that the shaft shall not shift its position in the hands throughout the entire swing. The attachment can be easily adjusted angularly, and-thus made to suit and peculiar requirements of the person who may use it. To effect such adjustment it is only necessary to slip the ring 5 from the ends of the segments 2, separate them sligl1t ly so they release the shaft A, and turn the attachment to the desired position and there secure it in place.

The segments 2 are represented as being of roughened metal. They may, however, he formed of other material and their outer surfaces may he formed, otherwise than, by roughening, so as to impart to them that quality which will prevent the attachment from slipping in the hands of the user.

i do not limit my invention to an attachment provided with but two segments 2, 2, or to an attachment in which the segments 2 are duplicates of each other in shape, although these features are possessed by the hand grip attachment represented in the drawings, and this form is that which I prefer to use for practical purposes.

What I claim is A separable hand grip adapted to he applied to a shaft, comprising a plurality of thin segn'ients, each of slightly less radius than that portion of the shaft to which is to be applied, and means for securing the segments to the shaft, the segments being spaced apart from each other.

2. A separable hand grip adapted to be applied to a shaft, comprising a pair of rigid segmental shells, the shells heing spaced apart, and connected with each other at one end by a cross piece and adapted to engage with the opposite sides of the shaft, and means for holding the free, unconnected ends of the segmental shells toward each other and in engagement with the shaft.

3. A separable hand grip adapted to he applied to a shaft, comprising a pair of segmental shells formed from thin rigid material, the radius of each shell being less than the radius of the portion of the shaft with which they are to engage, and means for securing the shells upon the shaft and spaced apart one from the other.

4. The combination with a shaft having a grip portion, the surface of which is somewhat yielding, of a separable grip attachment to he applied to the grasped portion of the shaft, comprising a pair of segmental shells formed of thin rigid material, the shells being shaped so that the edges thereof engage with and are somewhat forced into the said yielding surface of the shaft as the segmental shells are tightly titted thereto, a

cross piece uniting the segments at one end and holding thenispaced apart so they shall engage with the opposite sides of the shaft,

and means for holding the ends of the segments toward each other and in engagement with the shaft, the grip attachment being angularly adpista'ole about the shaft when the segments are loosened therefrom.

! AT", l I v,

Wain) 1 0. JOHN till 

